Hope And Courage Across America Journal

“So,” Grant asks, “if a tornado were to hit the RV we’d all be killed, right?”  We are very accustomed to Grant asking random questions that seemingly have nothing to do with anything going on.  I knew where this question came from though.  Earlier in the day we were looking at the clouds to see if it was going to rain before we got on our bikes.  I pointed to the dark bank of clouds and showed him how to tell the direction they were traveling.  “You mark their progress against the tree tops or hold your thumb steady as a mark if there aren’t any trees.”  I said the interesting thing about these clouds is they were moving in a different direction than the wind was blowing at ground level.  “That can make for some dramatic weather…possibly a tornado.”  Relax, there was no tornado.  But within minutes we were in the heart of a great thunder, lightning, wind and heavy rain storm.  Very dramatic.  And it made me look pretty smart in front of my son. (Sometimes you get lucky.)

Back to his question, “So, we’d all be killed, right?”   I figured I could turn this into a learning moment. (The cloud thing had bolstered my confidence.)  “No matter what you are facing you should always have the attitude that you will live through it.” 

You see, while camped out in this state park we had several visitors stop by the RV.  Our RV is somewhat of a magnet.  There is something about the words “HOPE and COURAGE” and “SEEK . FIND . LIVE” emblazoned all over that draws people.  Howard came by using a cane staring at the graphics.  He said he didn’t know what we were doing but he liked the message.  We talked and he told me about a long list of ailments he gone through.  I said, “Yeah, but you didn’t let any beat you, did you?”  He said he felt he met a band of angels today.  We parted with brotherly hugs all around.

Next was Allen.  He was missing a hand from a childhood farm accident.  He wanted to talk about some equipment we have on the RV that he had some real knowledge about.  I appreciated the free tech support and carried the conversation deeper.  He was a good man on a good path.  Enjoying the grandkids from a good life.  He had obviously the attitude to “live through it” for quite some time.

Our third visitor was Tina, around thirty years old. (Guessing here)  She came toward the RV slowly with her arms on the shoulders of two ten year olds.  They were assisting her walk.  She was fighting back tears when she pointed to our logo and said “I like that.”  Hope and Courage.  “I need that.” She had come through cancer and was dealing with kidney failure.  She had just come back from dialysis. The two boys were her little brother and his friend.  We are dedicated to taking time to talk to whoever God sends our way on this Journey.  It is the primary reason you sent us out here.  We tool time with Tina.  I explained the logo.  Hope in Christ and the courage within you to use that hope to take the next step.  We talked about leaning on Christ to help her through her day.  She could relate to that, she was leaning on two boys to get across the campsite. She began to believe she could “live through it”. We prayed with her and parted with hugs all around.

Back to answering Grant.  “No matter what you are facing you should always have the attitude that you will live through it.”, I said. “You see, if you adopt that attitude all your life you will only be wrong once.”